Allow me, a humble legal alien in Japan, to introduce you to some of the stuff you can find usually in Japanese homes. Please be warn that the things I mention below are the things I, as a foreigner, find very much interesting. They are only a small part of the whole array of things that represent the unique Japanese customs and traditions.
Koinobori (a.k.a. satsuki-nobori - 皐幟)
Koinobori (鯉幟) means "carp streamer" in Japanese. They are flags or wind socks, which are shaped and painted on to resemble koi fish or carps. You can see them from late April to early May, fluttering in the wind in front of households or schools in Japan. These fish streamers are usually hung in different colors and sizes according to the number of the sons living in the household. Traditionally, they are decorations for celebrating "tango no sekku" (端午の節句), a traditional calendrical event which is now designated as a National holiday Children's Day on May 5th. Carps, symbols of perseverance and strength in Japan, are chosen to represent the honor of the sons. Every year parents hang koinobori hoping that their sons will grow up healthy and strong.
Kayariki (mosquito coil burner)
Summer nights can be quite horrible in Japan. Not only the sticky cloying heat makes sleep unbearable, but mosquito attacks can also be a pain in the neck. Although the advance technology has enabled Japanese to produce many kinds of chemicals products to combat these devil blood-sucking insects, mosquito coils are sold even now in drug stores and many people (especially in the villages) still prefer to use them. Kayariki（蚊遣り器）, the coil burners, are made of clay or porcelain, traditionally formed in the shape of the open-mouthed pigs (katoributa蚊取り豚) and glazed in natural beige or moss green. Nowadays, they are sold in various shapes and sizes, some are decorated with cute motives to cater the kawaii lovers. If you see these creatures hanging around jaw-slacked in stores in Japan, then you know summer is just around the corner.
From summer, I'm skipping autumn to go straight to winter. Japanese houses are usually not built with thick insulated walls, which is really a problem during winter (especially for a Tropic like me!). A low wooden table covered by a heavy blanket with built-in heater underneath, kotatsu （炬燵）is the Japanese's answer to heating problem during cold wintry days. I saw old pictures of Japanese and their kotatsu dated from the year 1890, so I'm pretty sure they have long history. Nowadays the heaters inside comes with protective layers so you don't burn your skin when you touch them, but I guess in they old days people must've taken a lot of risks with putting coals inside. You can find these tables in almost every household in Japan. In houses where there are cats, you can bet your bottom yens that these pets will completely dominate the warmest place inside kotatsu!
These are special stacked boxes made of beautifully decorated wooden lacquerware, usually bigger in size compared to bentō boxes. They are used as containers for traditional Japanese New Year dishes, osechi-ryōri （
御節料理 or
お節料理）. Traditionally during the first three days of the New Year, it was taboo to use fire and to cook meal, so osechi-ryori were cooked before the year-end and served cold in these boxes. The traditional jūbako （重箱）have three stacks, each contains the dish enough for one day.
Some say this custom of having such feast started in the Heian Period (794-1185).
With a hand-made set of boxes priced around US$ 5,000 or more, I would say that fewer Japanese households feel the need to own a set, and prefer to buy plastic ones. The recent trend is also to order ready-made osechi-ryōri, which comes in less elaborate disposable boxes. However, high-quality ojū are still a part of traditional heritage for Japanese households, and still very much coveted by many Japanese lacquerware aficionados.
The Japanese traditional dolls, hinaningyo （
雛人形 ） are commonly a part of decoration for the doll festival Hanamatsuri（雛祭り）, or usually known as Girls' Day, held every year on March 3rd. Households with daughters will have them show-cased in the living room, displayed on tiny platforms covered with red carpet. Beautifully made hinaningyo come in sets of dolls, basically representing the Emperor, Empress and some attendants dressed in traditional court dresses from Heian period (794-1185). The more elaborate sets also consisted of several more attendants and court musicians, complete with their musical instruments. Interstingly, during Heian period married women usually had their teeth blackened, and sometimes you can find dolls of court attendants with their tiny blackened teeth.
For a bonus, I will also mention the epitome of the Japanese "white elephant" souvenir or gift, you may stumble upon in Japanese households (curiously, my family is a proud owner of two of these).
Hokkaido kibori Guma (Wood Carving Bear - 北海道木彫り熊)
These bears are typical souvenirs one can get in Hokkaido, really popular from around the '50-'60ies. Made of wood, they are usually painted dark, with the shape of bear holding a live salmon in its mouth (snout?). Households receiving the small versions of the bears normally can still find nestling spaces for these creatures. However, unlucky ones who get the bigger heavier carvings (can be as big as a new-born baby) arbitrary have to shove the cumbersome gifts somewhere in the remotest corner of the house. Although some exceptions might apply (some dude somewhere in Japan with bear/salmon fetish is probably collecting them even now).
Contrary to its name, this kind of carving did not originated from Hokkaido. Apparently, on 1912 a nobleman, Duke Yoshichika Tokugawa who owned a big farm in Yagumo-Town (Hokkaido) visited Switzerland on his 11-year European tour.
During his visit, he was impressed by the quality of the Swiss paper-knives and also their superior craftsmanship in wood carvings, especially in carvings of bears.
Being a smart man, he came up with a brilliant idea of introducing the same crafts to people in Hokkaido so they could have some income during the long severe winter days. After coming back to Hokkaido, he instructed some Japanese farmers to learn the necessary skills to produce such similar carvings. Somehow around the 1940s the carvings gained popularity as souvenirs from Hokkaido, and the bears provided farmers with side-income.
Later on, wanting to perfect their skills, the farmers went to consult the native Hokkaido people, the people who knew very well the local nature, on how good their carvings were, how close did they resemble real bears. Transfer of technology then followed these contacts between the Japanese farmers and the native people. Gradually, the natives began creating their own bear carvings, which apparently were more "raw" compared to their predecessors's. From 1955, people from all over the world could enjoy their collections of a much more expressive bears, with their howling and angry faces biting salmons that look so alive you can see them struggling to get free.
From various sources (mainly: http://www.yappe.net/yakumo/kuma/index.htm, http://hamadayori.com/hass-col/culture/KiboriGuma.htm)
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